In mid-2023, ProPublica published an extensive report detailing the many luxury trips Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife had taken with his wealthy friends. The repeatedly emphasized that Thomas failed to disclose these trips as potential conflicts of interest, even though he was not required to do so. Multiple promptly picked up the story, with the overarching implication being that Thomas’s travels with wealthy friends were clear signs of corruption.
In recent weeks, President Joe Biden has gone on a similar excursion with a wealthy Democratic donor. Interestingly, though the circumstances seem nearly identical, Biden’s wealthy donor-funded vacation has drawn far less fire from establishment media sources. The excursion was during the front half of .
The second half of Biden’s vacation began on Sunday when he arrived at his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, per the . Biden, and other members of the Biden clan spent the previous six nights at the California ranch home of billionaire Democratic donor Joe Kiani. Though some Democrats may argue the circumstances over Biden’s visit are somehow different than Thomas’s vacations with wealthy friends, there certainly is an appearance of a serious conflict of interest.
As noted by the Post, Kiani — a Democratic donor as mentioned above — has received “at least” $3 million in federal contracts during . According to the , Kiani is just one of many wealthy Democratic donors to have hosted Bide.